SERMONS
OF THE NATIVITY.
PREACHED UPON CHRISTMAS-DAY, 1610.
Preached before King James, at Whitehall, on Tuesday, the Twenty-fifth of
December, A.D. MDCX.

Transcribed by Dr Marianne Dorman
AD 2001

St. Luke ii:10-11

And the angel saith
unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people.For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, Which is Christ the Lord.

There is a word in this
text, and it is hodie, by virtue whereof this day may seem to challenge
a special property in this text, and this text in this day. Christ was born,
is true any day; but this day Christ was born, never but to-day only. For of
no day in the year can it be said hodie natus but of this. By which
word the Holy Ghost may seem to have marked it out, and made it the peculiar
text of the day.

Then it will not be
amiss, donce cognominatur hodie, as the Apostle speaketh, ‘while it
is called to-day,’ to hear it. To-morrow, the word hodie will be
lost; this day and not any day else it is in season. Let us then hear it this
day which we can hear no day besides.

It is then the first
report, the very first news that came, as this day, of that which maketh this
day so high a feast; the birth of Christ. [64/65]

It came by an Angel then;
no man was meet to be the messenger of it. And look, how it came then so it
should come still, and none but an Angel bring it, as more fit for the tongues
of Angels than of men. Yet since God hath allowed sinful men to be the
reporters of it as the second hand, and the news never the worse; for that
good news is good news and welcome by any, though the person be but even a
foul leper that brings it: yet, that the meanness of the messenger offend us
not, ever we are to remember this; be the party who he will that brings it,
the news of Christ's birth is a message for an Angel.

This had been news for
the best prince in the earth. That these illis here, these parties were
shepherds, that this message came to them, needs not seem strange. It found
none else at the time to come to; the Angel was glad to find any to tell it
to, even to tell it the first he could meet withal; none were then awake, none
in case to receive it but a sort of poor shepherds, and to them he told it.

Yet it fell not out amiss
that shepherds they were; the news fitted them well. It well agreed to tell
shepherds of the yeaning of a strange Lamb, such a Lamb as should ‘take away
the sins of the world;’ such a Lamb as they might ‘send to the Ruler of
the world for a present,’ mitte Agnum Dominatori terrĺ—Esay's
Lamb. Or, if ye will, to tell shepherds of the birth of a Shepherd, Ezekiel's
Shepherd; Ecce suscitabo vobis Pastorem, ‘Behold, I will raise you a
Shepherd;’ ‘the Chief Shepherd,’ ‘the great Shepherd;’ and ‘the
Good Shepherd that gave His life for His flock.’ And so it was not unfit
news for the persons to whom it came.

For the manner; the Angel
delivereth it evangelizando, ‘church-wise,’ and that was a sign
this place should ever be the exchange for this news. Church-wise, I say, for
he doth it by a sermon, here at this verse; and then by hymn or anthem after,
at the 14th verse. A sermon: the Angel himself calls it so, evangelizo
vobis, ‘I come to evangelize, to preach you a gospel;’ that first. And
presently after he had done his sermon, there is the hymn, Gloria in
excelsis, taken up by the choir of Heaven. An Angel makes the one; a
multitude of Angels sing the other. The whole service of this day, the sermon,
the anthem, by Angels, all. [65/66]

Now the end of both
sermon and anthem, and of the Angels in publishing it, and of the shepherds
and us in hearing it is gaudium, ‘joy,’ for the benefit and honour;
gaudium magnum, ‘great joy,’ for the great benefit and great honour
vouchsafed our nature and us this day. ‘Joy’ is in the text, and if joy be
in the time, it is no harm. We keep the text, if we hold the time with joy,
for so the angel doth warrant us to hold it.

Of this angelical or
evangelical message, or, as not I but the Angel calleth it sermon, these two
verses I have read are: I. are part. Whereof the former is but an ecce,
exciting them to hear it by magnifying the message as well worth their
hearing. ‘Be not afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of II. great
joy, which shall be to all people.’ The latter is very message itself,
‘that there is born unto you this day a Saviour, Which is Christ the Lord,
in the city of David.’

I. In the former are
these points; 1. ‘Fear not,’ it is no ill news I bring you. 2. Nay, it is
‘good news.’ 3. Good, for it is ‘news of joy.’ 4. Joy, and that no
ordinary but ‘great joy.’ 5. Not to some few, but ‘to the whole
people.’ 6. And not toti populo, ‘to all one people,’ but omni
populo, ‘to all people whatsoever.’ 7. And then, not for the present,
but quod erit omni populo, ‘that is and so shall be to all, as long
as there shall be any people upon earth.’ And by virtue of this quod erit,
to us here this day. Ecce, ‘behold,’ such is the news I bring.

II. In the latter, the
message itself, The sum whereof is the birth of a Child, a Child is born.
Three things are proposed of Him. 1. This Child is ‘a Saviour,’ 2. ‘A
Saviour, Which is Christ.’ 3. ‘Christ the Lord,’ Christus Dominus.
For every saviour is not Christ, nor every Christ Christus Dominus,
‘Christ the Lord, or the Lord Christ.’ He is all three.

Then have we besides
three circumstances, of the 1. Persons, 2. Time, and 3. Place. 1. The persons
for whom all this is, twice repeated; 1 evangelizo vobis in the first
verse, 2. natus vobis in the second. But this I make some doubt of
whether it be a circumstance or no; I rather hold it a principal part of the
substance, as the word of conveyance whereby it passeth to us. And sure there
is no joy either in evangelizo [66/67] ‘the message,’ or natus,
‘the birth’ without it, without vobis. But if the message and the
birth itself both be ours, then it is gaudium magnum indeed. Specially,
if we add 2. the time when, not many days hence, but even this very day. And
3. the place where, that it is in no remote region far hence, but ‘in the
city of David,’ even here hard by.

And then lastly in a
word; what our parts are to perform, to these parts, 1. this day's message,
and 2. this day's birth of our ‘Saviour, Christ the Lord.’

‘Be not afraid.’ Here
is a stop, that the message cannot proceed; for the sight of the messenger
hath almost marred the hearing of the message. The parties to whom it comes be
in such fear as they be not in case to receive it. ‘They were afraid,’ and
that ‘sore afraid,’ as is said in the verse before, at the sight of the
Angel that came with the news.

And this was not the case
of these poor men only; others and other manner of people were so, as well as
they. This Gospel of St. Luke is scarce begun, we are yet but a little way in
the second chapter, and we have already three noli timeres in it; and
all, as here, at the coming of an Angel. 1. ‘Fear not, Zachary.’ (chap. 1.
13.) So he was afraid. 2. ‘Fear not, Mary.’ (chap.1.30) So she was afraid.
3. And now, ‘Fear not’ these here, that it seems to be general to fear at
an Angel's appearing.

What was it? It was not
the fear of an evil conscience; they were about no harm. Zachary was at Church
at his office; the blessed Virgin, I doubt not, blessedly employed; these here
doing their duty, ‘watching over their flock by night;’ yet feared all.
What should the matter be? It is a plain sign our nature is fallen from her
original; Heaven and we are not in the terms we should be, not the best of us
all.

Angels are the messengers
of Heaven. Messengers ever come with tidings, but whether good or bad we
cannot tell. Her come an Angel with news from Heaven; what news he brings we
know not, and therefore we fear because we know not. Which shews all is not
well between Heaven and us, that upon every coming of an Angel we promise
ourselves no better news from thence, but still are afraid of the messages and
messengers that come from that place. [67/68] That the message then may
proceed, this fear must be removed. In a troubled water no face will well be
seen, nor by a troubled mind no message received, till it be settled. To
settle them then for it; no other way, no other word to begin with but noli
timere, ‘fear not;’ and so he doth seven times in this Gospel.

But fear will not be cast
out with a couple of words, till they see some reason to quiet them. And no
better reason, than to shew they have no reason to fear. For fear is the
expectation of evil, and there is no evil toward them; and so they have no
reason to fear, quod trepidaverunt timore ubi non erat timor. As if he
should say, Angels have come with weeping, as Judges 2. I. If I were such an
one, if I came with sad tidings, ye had reason, ye might fear. But now your
terror groweth out of error. You are mistaken in me, I am no such Angel; I am Angelus
evangelizans, ‘an Angel with a Gospel,’ one that comes with no bad
news. ‘Fear not’ then. There is no evil towards.

No evil; and that were
enough for ‘fear not.’ But there is a farther matter; not only privative,
‘I bring no ill,' but positive, ‘I bring you good news.’ And good
news is nolite timere and somewhat besides, that is, ‘fear not’ but
be of good cheer. They be two degrees plainly, though one be inferred of the
other. Fear no ill, there is none to fear; there is no ill, nay there is good
towards. For good news is good, in that it represents the good itself to us
before it come. It is but words. True—but such words made Jacob ‘revive
again,’ when he was more than half dead, even the good news of Joseph's
welfare. ‘If I might but hear good tidings,’ saith David, when his bones
were broken, ‘it would make me well again;’ that Solomon said well, ‘A
good messenger is a good medicine.’

Specially, this here
which is so good as it carrieth away the name from the rest, to be called the
Gospel or the glad tidings, as if none so glad, nay none glad at all without
it. It is, saith the Apostle, odor suavitatis, ‘a comfortable sweet
saviour.’ It is, saith the Wise Man, dulcedo animĺ, et sanitas ossium,
‘the sweetness of the soul, the very health of the bones.’ [68/69] It is
such, saith the Prophet, ‘as the lips are precious, and the feet beautiful,
of them that bring it,’ that a Saviour is born, as by Whom ‘things in
Heaven and things in earth,’ men and Angels—which were in fear one of
another Ý ‘are set at peace, and love;’ and ‘love casteth out fear,’
giveth the true noli timere.

Good news of joy; for of
good news there are more sorts than one. Good news it had been, if it had been
but evangelizo vobis spem, ‘news of good hope;’ that had been
enough for nolite timere. This is more, it is of joy. I wot well there
is a joy in hope, Spe gaudentes, saith the Apostle; but that joy is not
full, ‘till the fulness of time come.’ Nor it is not perfect, for it is
allayed somewhat with an unpleasing mixture, which is spes differtur,
and that, as the Wise Man saith, affligit animam, ‘hope deferred
afflicteth the soul.’ Gaudium spei is nothing to gaudium rei;
the hope de futuro, of a thing to come hereafter, nothing to the actual
fruition of a thing present.

And indeed, this day's
news it was ever evangelium spei, ever in the future tense before. Even
the very last before this to the blessed Virgin, Ecce concipies,
‘Thou shalt conceive’ Ý ‘Shalt.’ So it was yet to come. This is the
first in the present tense; not, ‘is to be born,’ ‘is to be sent,’
‘is to come,’ but natus est, missus est, venit, ‘is born,’
‘is sent,’ ‘is to come.’ Hodie, even ‘to-day’ takes no
time; ‘in the city David,’ not far hence, but even hard by. This evangelizo
gaudium, ‘this is joy indeed.’

But even in joy there be
divers degrees. All are not of one size. Some there are lesser; some, as this
here, gaudium magnum. The fire is as the fuel is, and the joy is as the
matter is. There is not like joy to a shepherd when his ewe brings him a lamb,
as when his wife brings him a son; yet that of a lamb is a joy, such as it is.
But then, if that son should prove to be princeps pastorum, ‘the
chief shepherd in all the land,’ that were somewhat more. But then, if he
should prove to be a Cyrus, or a David, a prince, then certainly it were
another manner of joy, gaudium magnum indeed. As the matter is, so is
the joy. And here the benefit is great, none greater; as much as the saving of
us all, as [69/70] much as all our lives and souls are worth; therefore great.
And the person great, none so great—it is the Lord Himself—therefore primĺ
magnitudinis, ‘great even as He is.’ Indeed so great it is, that the
Prophet bids us plainly ‘remember no more former things, nor regard matters
of old.’ This passeth them all, the joy of it puts them all down; so that
none of them shall once be mentioned with it. Therefore well said the Angel, Evangelizo
gaudium magnum.

And great it may be intensive,
in the parties themselves; yet not great extensive, nor extend itself
to many, not be gaudium magnum populo. Yes, even that way also it is
great; it is public joy, it is ‘joy to the people.’ And well fare that joy
where it is merry with all. It is added purposely this, that they might not
mistake when he said, Evangelizo vobis, ‘he brought them good
news;’ that though he brought it them, yet not them only; it was not
appropriate to them, it was common to others. They had their parts in it, but
so should others have no less than they. And every good shepherd will like it
the better for that, will be pro grege, and still prefer the joy of the
whole flock.

In other joy it falls out
as Esay tells, ‘multiply the nation, and ye shall not increase their joy;’
for that which one wins another loses: but this joy, the joy of Puer natus
est nobis, in it ‘they shall all rejoice before Thee, as men make merry
in harvest, and be joyful as men that divide the spoil.’ ‘In harvest;’
and a good harvest all the country is the better for. ‘At a spoil;’
wherein every one hath his share. That is gaudium populi, and such is
this. Well figured in the place of His birth, an inn, which is domus populi,
‘open to all passengers’ that will take it up; juris publici,
‘wherein every one hath right.’ Yea, and the most common part of the inn.
For though they sort themselves and have every one their several chambers, in
the stable all have interest; that is common. And as the place public of His
birth: Christmas joy right; all fare the better for this day. Salus populi
is the best, and so is gaudium populi too; and every good mind will
like it so much the better than all the people have their part in it.

And this were much, toti
populo, ‘to the whole people,’ if it were but one; but it is omni
populo, say Theophylact and [70/71] Beda, that is, ‘to all people,’
which is a larger extent by far. And if ye speak of great joy, this is great
indeed, for it is universal, it is as great as the world is great; when not
the Jew only but the Gentile, nor the Gentile but the Jew, not one people but
all, keep a feast. And at this word olmni populo, nec vox hominem sonat,
‘it is not man that speaketh now,’ whose goodness commonly when it is at
the greatest extendeth no farther but to one nation; but with God it is never
great, till it come to omni populo. ‘It is but a small things (saith
He by Esay) to raise the tribes of Jacob, or to restore the decays of Israel;
I will give thee a light to the Gentiles, and a salvation to the end of the
world.’

As we said of the inn
even now the place of His birth, so say we here of the time of it. It is well
set down by St. Luke to have been at the description of the whole world; for
that was a meet time for the Saviour of the whole world to be born, ‘the dew
of Whose birth is of the womb of the morning’—the Psalmist in passion of
joy misplacing his words, the meaning is, ‘His birth from the womb is as the
morning dew’ which watereth and refreseheth the face of the whole earth; not
Gideon's fleece alone, but the whole earth; not one part, not Gideon's fleece
alone, but the whole earth; not one part, not the Jews only, no partition now
but utraque unum, ‘one or two;’ nay, one of all; all recapitulate
in himself, and from Him as a centre lines of joy drawn to all, and every part
of the circle.

And we may not pass by quod
erit, ‘which shall be,’ which not only is but shall be. For by this
word we hold; it is our best tenure. Not only to all that then were—then had
we our best tenure. Not only to all that then were—then had we been
out—but that were or ever should be to the world's end. Omni populo,
‘all people,’ is the latitude or extent; quod erit, ‘that shall
be,’ is the longitude or continuance of the joy. Quod erit, that it
shall be a feast of joy, so long as any people shall be to hold a feast of on
the face of the earth. In a word that same evangelium ĺternum that St.
John saw in the Angel's hand we now hear from the Angel's mouth, ‘to be
preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people’ that be, or shall be
while the world endureth.

So, if we read quod
erit with omni populo. But some read gaudium with quod
erit (gaudium quod erit,) and make a note of that; the joy quod erit,
‘that is and shall be.’ For [71/72] commonly all our earthly joy is gaudium
quod est, et non erit, ‘that is for the present, but continueth not;’
is, but shall not be, like the blaze of a brush faggot, all of flame and out
again suddenly in a moment. Gaudium quod erit, ‘the joy that so is as
it shall be still,’ is grounded upon the joy of this day—Christ and His
Birth. Without which our joy is as the joy of men in prison, merry for a
while, but within a while sentence of death to pass upon them. Without which extrema
gaudii luctus occupat, ‘the end of all our mirth will be but
mourning.’ All joy else is, but shall not be within a while; at leastwise, erit
quando non erit, a time shall be when it shall not be. Sed gaudium Meum
nemo tollet a vobis; ‘but My joy’—Mine, grounded on Me Ý ‘none
shall ever take from you;’ not sickness, not death itself. Other it shall,
this it shall not; but now ye shall this day, and evermore ye shall rejoice in
the holy comfort of it.

And this is the
magnifying of the message. 1. No evil news, ‘fear not.’ 2. Nay ‘good,’
be of good cheer. 3. ‘Good news of joy.’4. ‘Of great joy.’ 5.
‘Public joy,’ toti populo. 6. ‘Universal joy,’ omni populo.
7. ‘Joy to all’ that are or shall be; and again, ‘joy which now is, and
shall be so for ever.’

Now upon all these He
setteth an ecce, and well He may; and that is never set by the Holy
Ghost but super res magnĺ entitatis, ‘upon matters of great
moment.’ But upon this hill, upon the top of it that hath so many ascents, a
beacon would do well. For look, how many ecces in the Scriptures, so
many beacons; and between them, as between these, ye shall observe a good
correspondence still. This ecce here. To the last, Ecce concipies
of the blessed Virgin; that to Esay's Ecce concipet Virgo; that to
David's Ecce de fructu ventris tui; that, to Abraham's Ecce in
semine tuo; and so up, till ye come to semen mulieris. There they
first begin, and take light one from another, till they come to the Ecce
natus est hodie, the ecce of all ecces, the last and highest
of them all. And as a beacon serveth to call up and stir up men to have
regard, so is this here to excite them, and in them us all, with god tidings.
And indeed, who is not excited with it? whose eye is not turned to behold this
ecce? whose ear standeth not attent to hear this [72/73] evangelizo? whose heart doth not muse, ‘what manner
of message this should be?’

This it is then, quod
natus est. The birth of a Child, ‘that there is One born this day’ the
cause of all this joy.

There is joy at every
birth. ‘Sorrow in the travail,’ saith our Saviour, ‘but after the
delivery the anguish is no more remembered, for joy that a man is born into
the world.’

But
the greater he is who is born, and the more beneficial his birth, the greater
ado is made. And among men, because there are none greater than princes, and
great things are looked for at their hands, their births are ever used to be
kept with great triumph. Pharaoh's in the Old, Herod's in the New; both their natus
ests day of feasting.

Now of Him who is born
here it may truly be said, Ecce major hic, ‘Behold a greater is born
here.’ One, whose birth is good news even from the poorest shepherd to the
richest prince upon the earth.

Who is it? Three things
are said of this Child by the Angel. 1. He is a ‘Saviour.’ 2. ‘Which is
Christ.’ 3. ‘Christ the Lord.’ Three of His titles, well and orderly
inferred one of another by good consequence. We cannot miss one of them; they
be necessary all. Our method on earth is to begin with great; in Heaven they
begin with good first.

But we are not so much to
regard the ecce how great it is, as gaudium what joy is in it;
that is the point we are to speak to. And for that, men may talk what they
will, but sure there is no joy in the world to the joy of a man saved; no joy
so great, no news so welcome, as to one ready to perish, in case of a lost
man, to hear of one who will save him. In danger of perishing by sickness, to
hear of one will make him well again; by sentence of the law, of one with a
pardon to save his life; by enemies, of one that will rescue and set him in
safety. Tell any of these, assure them but of a Saviour, it best news he ever
heard in his life. There is joy in [73/74] the name of a Saviour. And even
this way, this Child is a Saviour too. Potest hoc facere, sed hoc non est
opus Ejus, ‘This He can do, but this is not His work;’ a farther
matter there is, a greater salvation He came for. And it may be we need not
any of these; we are not presently sick, in no fear of the law, in no danger
of enemies. And it may be, if we were, we fancy to ourselves to be relieved
some other way. But that which He came for, that saving we need all; and none
but He can help us to it. We have therefore all cause to be glad for the birth
of this Saviour.

I know not how, but when
we hear of saving or mention of a Saviour, presently our mind is carried to
the saving of our skin, of our temporal state, of our bodily life, and farther
saving we think not of. But there is another life not to be forgotten, and
greater the dangers, and the destruction there more to be feared than of this
here, and it would be well sometimes we were remembered of it. Besides our
skin and flesh, a soul we have, and it is our better part by far, that also
has need of a Saviour; that hath her destruction out of which, that hath her
destroyer from which she would be saved, and those would be thought on. Indeed
our chief thought and care would be for that; how to escape the wrath, how to
be saved from the destruction to come, whither our sins will certainly bring
us.

Sin it is will destroy us
all. And to speak of a Saviour, there is no person on earth hath so much need
of a Saviour as hath a sinner. Nothing so dangerous, so deadly unto us, as is
the sin in our bosom; nothing from which we have so much need to be saved,
whatsoever account we make of it. From it cometh upon us all the evil of this
life, and from it all the evil of the life to come; in comparison whereof
these here are not worth the speaking of. Above all then we need a Saviour for
our souls, and from our sins; and from the everlasting destruction which sin
will bring upon us in the other life, not far from us, not from him of us that
thinketh it farthest off.

Then if it be good
tidings to hear of a Saviour, where it is but a matter of the loss of earth,
or of this life here; how then, when it cometh to the loss of Heaven, to the
danger of hell, when our soul is at the stake, and the well-doing or undoing
of it for ever? He that could save our souls from that destroyer Ý [74/75]
were not the birth of such an one good new trow? Is not such a Saviour worth
the hearkening after? Is He not? It is then because we have not that sense of
our souls and the dangers of them, that we have of our bodies; nor that fear
of our ghostly enemies, nor that lively apprehension of the eternal torments
of that place, and how near we are to it, nothing being betwixt us and It but
this poor puff of breath which is in our nostrils. Our carnal part is quick
and sensible, our spiritual is dead and dull. We have not the feeling of our
sins that we have of our sickness; if we had, we would hear this news with
greater cheerfulness, and hold this day of the birth of such a Saviour with
joy indeed. We cannot conceive it yet, this destruction is not near enough to
affect us. But in novissimo intelligetis plane, ‘in the end,’ when
the destroyer shall come and we shall find the want of a Saviour, ‘we shall
plainly understand this,’ and value this benefit and the joy of it as we
ought, and find there is no joy in the earth to the joy of a Saviour.

‘There is born a
Saviour,’ is the first. The Angel addeth farther, ‘A Saviour Which is
Christ.’ For, many saviours had been born, many had God sent them that at
divers times had set them free from divers dangers of their enemies; Moses,
from the Egyptians; Joshua, from the Canaanites; Gideon, from the Midianites;
Jephtha, from the Ammonites; Sampson, from the Philistines. And indeed, the
whole story of the Bible is nothing else but a calendar of saviours that God
from time to time still stirred them up.

But these all were but
petty saviours, there was One yet behind that was worth them all. One, that
‘should save His people from their sins;’ save not their bodies for a
time, but their souls for ever, which none of those saviours could do. One
therefore must spoken of, wished for, and waited for, a Saviour Which was
Christ. When He came they looked for great matters, as said the woman at the
well’s side, for He was the most famous and greatest Saviour of all. And
this is He, ‘a Saviour Which is Christ.’ He, of Whom all the promises made
mention, and He the performance of them all; of Whom all the types under the
Law were shadows, and He the substance of them all; of Whom all the prophecies
ran, and He the fulfilling of them all; He, of Whom all those inferior [75/76]
saviours were the figures and forerunners, and He the acomplishment of all in
them was wanting. This is He; Jacob's ‘Shiloh,’ Esay's ‘Immanuel,’
Jeremy's ‘Branch,’ Daniel's ‘Messias,’ Zachary's oriens ab alto,
Aggei's desideratus cunctis gentibus, ‘the desire of all the
nations’ then, and now the joy of all nations, a Saviour Which is Christ.

And what is meant by this
term Christ? A Saviour anointed; or, as in another place it is said more
agreeable to our phrase of speaking, a Saviour ‘sealed’—a Saviour under
God's Great Seal. That is, not as those other were, saviours raised up of a
sudden upon some occasion, to serve the turn for the present, and never heard
of till they came; but a Saviour in God's fore-counsel resolved on, and given
forth from the beginning; promised and foretold, and now signed and sent with
absolute commission and fullness of power to be the perfect and complete
Saviour of all.

And to be it, ex
officio; His office, His very profession, to be one, that all may have
right to repair unto Him, and find it at His hands. Not as Saviour
incidentally, as it fell out; but one, ex professo, anointed to that
end, and by virtue of His anointing appointed, set forth, and sent into the
world to exercise this function of a Saviour; not for a time, but for ever;
not to the Jews, as did the rest, but even to all the ends of the earth. So
runs His bill, Venite ad Me omnes, ‘come all;’ and, qui ad Me
venerit non ejiciam foras, ‘of them that come to Me, I will cast none
out.’ Servator omnium hominum, ‘the Saviour of all men,’ and as
the Samaritans said of Him, Servator mundi, ‘the Saviour of the
world,’ of Samaritans, Jews, Gentiles; of kings, of shepherds, and all.

And there is yet more
particularity in this word Christ: three offices did God from the beginning
erect to save His people by, and that, by three acts—the very heathen took
notice of them—1. Purgare, 2. Illuminare, 3. Perficere. 1.Priests,
to purge or expiate; 2. Prophets, to illuminate or direct them; 3. Kings, to
set all right, and to keep all right in that perfection which this world
admitteth. And all these three had their several anointings. Aaron the Priest,
Elisha the Prophet, Saul the King. In the Saviour Which is Christ, His will
was all should meet, that nothing in Him might want to the perfecting of this
work. That He might be a [76/77] perfect Saviour of all, He was all. ‘A
Priest after the order of Melchizedek;’ a Prophet to be heard when Moses
should show his peace; a King to save His people, ‘Whose name should be Jehova
Justitia nostra.’ David's Priest, Moses' Prophet, Jeremy's King.

And these formerly had
met double, two of them in some other; Melchizedek, King and Priest; Samuel,
Priest and Prophet; David, Prophet and King. Never all three but in Him alone;
and so, no perfect Christ but He; but He all, and so perfect. By His
Priesthood to purge, expiate, and ‘save us from our sins, being a
propitiation to God for them;’ by His prophecy to illuminate and save us
from the by- paths of error, ‘guiding our feet in the way of peace;’ by
His kingdom protecting and conducting us through the miseries of this life,
till He perfect us eternally by Himself in the joys of His Heavenly Kingdom.
Rightly then, ‘a Saviour Which is Christ.’

Now, as in the name
Saviour there was, so is there likewise joy in this name Christ; and that,
many ways: 1. First, that we shall hang no more in expectation, we shall be no
longer, Vincti spei, ‘Hope's prisoners.’ He that should come is
come. The promised Saviour, the Saviour Which is Christ is now born, and when spes
becomes res then our joy is full. 2. That now there is a saving office
erected, One anointed to that end, a professed Saviour to Whom all may resort.
We shall not be to seek, ‘there is a name given under Heaven’ whereby we
may be sure of salvation, the name of Christ. 3. That to this our saving we
have the joint consent and good-will of all parties, in this name Christ.
Christ, that is, the Anointed, what Person is He? The Son, the second Person.
Anointed by whom? By the Father (Quem unxisti) the first Person.
Anointed with what? With the Holy Ghost, the third Person. So a concurrence of
all Persons in this Name, all willing and well-pleased with the work of our
salvation. 4. If we would be saved, we would be saved unctione, ‘by
oil,’ not by vinegar. Et unguentum effusum Momen ejus; ‘and His
name is Christ, one that saveth by anointing.’ 5. And if by oil—there be
hot oils—with a gentle lenitive oil. And the oil which He useth, wherewith
He is anointed, is the oil of gladness. Gladness therefore must needs go with
this [77/78] Name. Which oil of gladness is not for Himself but for us, not
for His use but for ours. So He saith Himself in His first sermon at Nazareth,
upon His text out of Esay. The anointing, this oil of gladness, was upon Him
to bestow it upon us, and of us; upon them especially that through a wounded
conscience were troubled with the spirit of heaviness, to turn their heaviness
into joy. Glad then that He is come that by His office is to save, and come
with the good liking of all; to save us by oil, and that the oil of gladness.

And yet to make our joy
more full the Angel addeth the third. ‘A Saviour Who is Christ, Christ the
Lord,’ For neither is this all. He is not Christ only. We must not stay
there. For the name Christ will agree, hath been, and may be imparted to
others besides. Many a king in Scripture hath had the honour to carry the name
of Christ, but with a difference. The king, christus Domini, ‘the
Lord's christ;’ He Christus Dominus, ‘the Lord Christ,’ or
‘Christ the Lord.’ Consider then, how great this Child is, Whose anointed
kings themselves are. For if they be christi Domini, ‘the Lord's
anointed;’ His they are, for He is the Lord. The Lord absolute, without any
addition; ye may put it to what ye will—Lord of men and angels, Lord of
heaven and earth, and all the hosts of them, Dominus Christorum, and Dominus
Dominorum, ‘Lord paramount over all.’

But why the Lord? Because
this name of Christ will sort with men. Nay, as He is Christ, that is,
anointed, He is man only. It is His name as Man, for God cannot be anointed.
But He who should save us would be more than Man; and so, more than Christ.
Indeed, Christ cannot save us. He who must save us must be the Lord. For
‘such a Saviour it behoveth us to have,’ as might not begin the work of
our salvation and leave it in the midst, but go through with it and make and
end too, which the former saviours could not do. Formerly, ever their
complaint was, that their saviours, their christs died still, and left them to
seek; their kings, and priests, and prophets, dropped away still, for ‘they
were not suffered to endure by reason of death.’ But this Saviour, this
Christ, because He is the Lord, ‘endureth for ever, has an everlasting
Priesthood,’ Kingdom and Prophecy and so ‘is able perfectly to save them
who come to God by Him.’ [78/79] This is one reason, why hither we must come
at the last to Christ the Lord, and till we be at it we be not where we
should. Else, our saviours will die and leave us destitute.

But the main reason is
set down by Esay, Ego sum, Ego sum, saith God Himself, et prĺter Me
non est Servator; ‘It is I, I that am the Saviour, I am, and besides Me
there is no Saviour,’ none indeed, no true Saviour but the Lord. All other
are short, Vana salus hominis, saith the Psalm, ‘Man's salvation is
vain,’ any salvation is vain if it be not the Lord's.

1. Those christs that
were not the Lord, could save but the body, and not one of them quicken his
own soul; Christ that is the Lord can save souls and bodies, His own and
others both. Those christs that were not the Lord, could save but from carnal
enemies, with arms of flesh; He, from our ghostly enemies, even ‘spiritual
wickednesses in heavenly places,’ from Abaddon the great destroyer of the
bottomless pit. 3. They that were not the Lord could save but from worldly
calamities, could but prune and take off the twigs, as it were; He, from sin
itself, and so plucketh it up by the roots.

4. They that were no the
Lord put if off but for a time, and after it came again—temporal only. He
for ever, once for all; and is become ‘Author of eternal salvation’ to all
who depend on Him. And mark that word ‘eternal,’ for none but the Lord can
work eternal salvation. 5. They all had need of a Saviour themselves, and of
this Saviour; He needs none, receives of none, imparts to all, as being not a
Saviour only but Salus ipsa in abstracta, ‘Salvation itelf,’ as
Simeon calleth Him ‘of Whose fulness we all receive.’ To save may agree to
man; to be salvation can agree to none but to Christ the Lord. To begin and to
end; to save soul and body from bodily and ghostly enemies; from sin the root,
and misery the branches; for a time and for ever; to be a Saviour and to be
salvation itself; Christ the Lord is all this, and can do all this. Now then
we are right, and never till now. ‘A Saviour Which is Christ the Lord.’

But the name ‘Lord’
goeth yet further, not only to save us and set us free from danger, to deliver
us from evil; but to state us in as good and better condition than we
forfeited by our fall, or else though we were saved we should not save by the
match. To make us then savers, and not savers only, [79/80] but gainers and
that great gainers by our salvation, He doth further impart also the estate
annexed of this last title, even whatsoever He is Lord of Himself. And He is
‘Lord of life,’ saith St. Peter, life then He imparts. And He is ‘Lord
of glory,’ saith St. Paul, glory then He imparts. And He is Lord of joy, intra
in gaudium Domini, ‘enter into the joy of the Lord;’ joy then He
imparts. Life and glory and joy; and makes us lords of them, and of whatsoever
is within the name and title of Lord. For having thereto a double right, 1. by
inheritance as the Son, 2. and by purchase as a Redeemer, (for ‘therefore He
died and rose again, that He might be Lord of all;’) contenting Himself with
the former. He is well pleased to set over the latter to us, and admit us with
Himself into His estate of joint-purchase of Heaven, or whatsoever He is the
owner of; that in right of it we may enter into the life, glory, and joy of
our Lord, and so be saved and be savers, and more than savers every way. This
also is in the word ‘Lord,’ this benefit farther we have by it.

And now, if we will put
together natus and Servator, Servator and Christus, Christus and
Dominus, Dominus and natus; ‘born and Saviour, Saviour and
Christ, Christ and the Lord, the Lord and born;’ take them which way you
will in combination, any of the four, then have we His two natures in one
Person. In Servator, His Godhead; none but God is a Saviour. In Christus,
His Manhood; God cannot be anointed, man may. In Dominus, His Divine
again, ‘the Lord from Heaven.’ In natus, His human nature directly,
born of a woman; both ever carefully joined, and to be joined together. When
St. Matthew had begun his Gospel thus, ‘The Book of the generation of Jesus
Christ the Son of David,’ one nature, His humanity; St. Mark was careful to
begin his thus, ‘The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of
God,’—the other nature, His divinity. But St. John he joins them, Verbum
caro factum est, ‘the Word became flesh.’ Verbum, ‘the
Word,’ there is Dominus; and caro, ‘the flesh,’ that is natus.

And even this very
conjunction is a new joy. For that such an one, that the Lord would condescend
to be born, besides the benefit there is also matter of honour. Even that He,
so [80/81] great a Person, would become such as we are, would so esteem our
nature as to take it upon Him—this certainly is a great dignity and
exaltation of our nature, and it is matter of new joy that He would so highly
value it as to assume, associate, and unite it into one Person with the Son of
God. By this we see why ‘a Saviour,’ why ‘Christ,’ why ‘the Lord.’
‘A Saviour,’ His name of benefit whereby He is to deliver us;
‘Christ,’ His name of office whereby He is bound to undertake it; ‘the
Lord,’ His name of power whereby He is able to effect it. We see also why
Man, and why God. First, so it should be, for of right none was to make
satisfaction for man but man; and in very deed none was able to give
satisfaction to God but God. So that being to satisfy God for man, He was to
be God and man. Secondly, so we would wish it ourselves: if we would be saved,
we would be saved by one of our nature, not by any stranger. He is born, and
so one of our own nature. Again, if we would be saved, we would be saved by no
inferior, but by the best; He is the Lord, and so the very best of all. And
so, our desire is satisfied every way.

This blessed birth of
this ‘Saviour Which is Christ the Lord’ thus furnished in every point to
save us throughly, body and soul, from sin the destruction, and Satan the
destroyer of both, and that both here, and for ever—this blessed and thrice
blessed birth is the substance of this day's solemnity of the Angel's message,
and of our joy.

And now to the
circumstances; and first of the persons, vobis; ‘I bring you good
tidings, that to you is born,’ &c.

We find not any word
through all but there is joy in it, and yet all is suspended till we come to
this one word, nobis; this make up all. This word therefore we shall do
well ever to look for, and when we find it to make much of it. Nothing passeth
without it; it is the word of application. But for it, all the rest are loose;
this girds it on, this fastens it to us, and makes it ours. But for it, we but
in their case, Quid nobis et Tibi, ‘What have we to do with Thee?’
This ‘Saviour Christ the Lord,’ in this good time and fit place, quid
ad nos? ‘what are we better?’ Omni populo, is something what
too general, and the hundredeth part of them shall not be benefited by Him. We
would hear it in more particularity. [81/82] Why vobis, ‘for you it
is,’ born for you. Yea, now ye say somewhat.

And twice it is repeated
for failing, in either verse once. Evangelizo vobis and natus vobis,
that ye may know the message is yours, and the birth is yours; therefore the
message is sent to you, because the birth concerneth you. But yours they be,
both.

May we then be bold to
change the person, and utter it in the first which he doth in the second, and
say nobis! We may be sure—Puer natus est nobis; Esay hath said
it before us. And thereby lieth a mystery. The Angels they say, vobis:
the Prophets were men; men say, nobis. Bid the Angel say, nobis,
he cannot—neither sing nor say it; Angelis he cannot, ‘to
Angels,’ (Nusquam Angelos;) but hominibus ‘unto men,’ he can and
doth. And this is a special high prerogative; that which the Angels can
neither sing nor say, we can do both.

If then He be born to us,
it is to some end. Esay tells us what it is, when he expoundeth natus
by datus, ‘born to us’ ‘by given us.’ Born to be bestowed upon
us. And if given us, bestowed upon us, then He is ours. Ours His benefit, His
office, His power. His benefit to save us, His office to undertake us, His
power to assure us. Ours, His salvation as Jesus, His anointing as Christ, His
dominion as the Lord. And if He be ours, then all His are ours; Omnia Ejus
nostra sunt; His birth ours, and if His birth, all that follow His birth,
ours too.

Now then, seeing He and
they be ours, will it not be well done to make our entry, to take seisin
of Him and them, and dispose them to our best benefit? And how can we do that
better than as God has offered Him to us this day that He was born for us, so
we reciprocally this day that He is born offer Him again to God as the best
pleasing oblation that we can offer Him. To-day, as in the Temple alive for
our morning oblation; and when the time cometh of His death, offer Him as on
the Cross slain for our evening sacrifice. So shall we, as Bernard wisheth us,
uti Nostro in utilatem nostrum, et de Salvatore salutem operari, ‘employ,
or make use of Him for our best behoof; draw His proper extract from Him, and
work salvation out of this our Saviour.’

Now a word only, what is
to be done on our parts and [82/83] that respectively to these two points,
what we are to return to them; what to this message, and what to this birth.

To the message, Evangelizo
vobis, this we are to return; this is due to a message—to hear it. And
that we do, and that is all; we come to the Sermon, we hear it, and little we
do besides. But we hear it but heavily, with a faint affection. God knoweth;
we hear it not as an ecce, as matter of high admiration; we hear it not
as gaudium magnum, with that alacrity and cheerfulness we should. We
hear it not as nobis, as if it nearly touched us, but as a matter that
little concerned us, it skilled not much whether we heard it or no. Many
meaner things affect us more, but this should be the joyfullest hearing that
we ever heard.

And shall we not likewise
perform some duty to natus est? Yes, even to that also. And not hear of
Him, and let Him alone; hear His tidings, and let Himself go.

He was ‘born for us and
given us,’ natus nobis and donatus nobis—both go together in
the Prophet. To a gift the duty that belongeth properly, is to receive it. If
He be natus nobis and donatus nobis, I trust we will take order
He be acceptus a nobis. If ‘born for us, and given us,’ it is our
part then, we can do no less than receive Him. We evacuate the gift, disgrace
both the Giver and it, we vouchsafe not to accept of it.

How is that? how shall we
receive Him? who shall give Him us? That shall One That will say unto us
within a while, Accipite, ‘Take this is my Body,’ ‘by the
offering whereof you are sanctified.’ ‘Take, this is my Blood,’ by the
shedding whereof you are saved. Both in the holy mysteries ordained by God as
pledges to assure us, and as conduit pipes to convey into us this and all
other the benefits that come by this our Saviour.

Verily upon His memorable
days, of which this is the first, we are bound to do something in memory, or
remembrance of Him. What is that? Will ye know what is it? Hoc facite, ‘Do
this in remembrance of Me.’

Something would be
thought on ‘to return Him for all His benefits,’ and this day for this
first, the fountain of all the rest—His birth. Some thanks would be rendered
Him for it. And how can we do that better than as we are taught by him [83/84]
that studied the point of Quid retribuam, and resolved it thus; no way
so well as by acciptum Calicem, ‘I will take the Cup of salvation.’
And so do it: so, with it taken into our hands, ‘give thanks to the name of
the Lord.’ And what better than to-day, hodie as we are here
directed? What better day than on this day, the very day He was bestowed on
us. To defer Him no longer than He did us. He deferred not us at all, but as
soon as He was born sent us word the same instant; and shall we defer Him to
hear of us another time, and not be as ready on our part to receive Him
instantly as He was on His to bestow Himself; even presently, as soon as He
was born? Sure, somewhat would be done more than ordinary this day of His
birth; the day itself is more than ordinary.

And let this move us. It
ever there be day of salvation, ecce hic est dies salutis, behold this
is it when a Saviour is born unto us. If ever an accepted time, ecce tempus
acceptum, behold, now it is, this is that time. The birth-day hath ever
been a time accepted. Then, one king forgave the trespass of his servant and
received him to grace. Another, being pleased, was ready in his bounty to have
given away the one half of his kingdom. Our Saviour Christ, our Lord, on His
birth-day will be no worse than they. His bounty then no less than
theirs.

Let
us then make this so accepted a time in itself twice acceptable by our
accepting, which He will acceptably take at our hands. Let us honour this day
with our receiving, which He has honoured by His first giving; yielding Him
evermore (but this day, the day of it, chiefly,) our unfeigned hearty
thanksgiving for this so good news, for this so great a gift, both of them
this day [given to] us; in Him and for Him, Who was Himself the gift, our
‘Saviour, Christ the Lord.’ To Whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost,
three Persons, one immortal, ever-living, invisible, only wise God; be all
honour, glory, blessing, praise, and thanksgiving, this day and for ever.